Celebrating the great Canadian game. Tracking the NHL, the Canadian teams and a lot more!

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Canucks grab some cover

Just when the long running Bertuzzi/Moore court case seems to be settling down again, up comes a new revelation that sends the whole process into a new direction.

Previously in the process, we heard of the now famous message board with Moore’s name and number on it, with an inference delivered that he (Moore) had to pay a price.

As the events of that night would spin out of control, and have since been replayed countless times on news and sports broadcasts, Moore would be found laying motionless on the ice having been sucker punched and then pile driven to the ice by Bertuzzi.

But Friday was drama day in a Toronto court room, there was an introduction of a tantalizing bit of news, the defence for the Canucks’ who are being sued along with Bertuzzi, have come up with a declaration that they will present evidence that shows that prior to the attack on the night in question, coach Crawford had been yelling at his player trying to get Bertuzzi off the ice.

In the best tradition of Law and Order, the declaration by lawyer Alan D'Silva, left the court room buzzing and the defence counsel visibly surprised at the turn of events. It’s at this point that perhaps a sharp musical note should have sounded in the courtroom, to signal a major momentum shift in the proceedings.

What that evidence will be has not been revealed yet, perhaps a video angle that shows Crawford waving frantically to gain Bertuzzi’s attention, or revelations of secret mind wave thought programs which telepathically had sent signals for Bertuzzi to come to the bench.

Once his lawyer had gathered his thoughts from the surprising twist, Tim Danson told the court the that he had read Crawford's statement to police following the 2004 game and at no time did he mention that Bertuzzi had been ordered off the ice.

Regardless, it would seem that at the time if the message had been sent, it must have been on the wrong frequency as nothing apparently was received, as a few short seconds later, the now infamous deed was done and the long road to litigation was under way.

A road that now seems to have added some blacktop and has no doubt provided for an increase in billable hours to the ever tabulating legal meter.